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A year after the Soweto Child Friendly Space in Jinja, Uganda was set up; we are very happy to share with you their first ‘Graduation Day’! The eldest group of children will be leaving to start primary school after completing their early years education at the Centre. Soweto slum is home to over 4,000 people cramped within 10 acres. Brewing and distilling alcohol is Soweto’s primary economic activity and conditions in the slum are appalling. Children are at risk of malnutrition, abuse and child sacrifice.

It is here that we have supported our local partner in setting up a Child Friendly Space, providing education, play and nutrition to some of the most vulnerable children in the area.

Irregular as this may seem to the educational purists out there, there are a whole host of reasons why this ‘Graduation Day’, for the children moving on, needs to be marked in the most special way.

The children that come to the Child Friendly Space here in Soweto have had no other chance of early years education, and without the project would not be going to primary school at all.

The project has made change possible in the following ways:

The children have been learning all the components of an early childhood curriculum (i.e. letters, numbers, shapes) to prepare them for the transition into their first school.

Alongside this, staff from our partner organisation ADSN have been liaising with local schools to ensure that places will be available for all the children.

The building of relationships with parents in the community has been essential in communicating how crucial education is for their children. Most children in Soweto slum stay at home, with parents not prepared to spend the little money they have on uniform or books, or simply don’t have the funds at all. Encouraging awareness about the value of education has begun to change the community’s outlook on what is important for their children, and they are now giving their support to getting the younger generation into school.

These changes are worth celebrating, but more than anything, these children have risen above their circumstances and achieved something that hasn’t been achieved for years in the area where they live. They’ve dedicated themselves to learning, made friends, eaten and played, and although we’re sad to say goodbye to them, we’re thrilled to see them go on to new things.

Matilda, a teacher at the Child Friendly Space says; “ I love working with the children. They are the future adults of tomorrow and future politicians. Developing them at this early age will help them to change. I just love it.”